Molders, Shapers, and Casters, Except Metal and Plastic in Arizona
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$40,776
after federal, FICA and Arizona tax
Tax takes
$8,284
16.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$40,330
Arizona costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Arizona — roughly, since only five points along the band are published.
One filer, standard deduction, no dependants and nothing paid in before tax — the same household the rest of this page uses, so the comparison holds. City and school-district income taxes are not included.
Median here
$49,060
Kept after tax
$40,776
Worth in national money
$40,330
State rank
11
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Arizona pays this job a middle wage of $49,060, ranking 11 of 48 states and sitting about 6.26% above the national middle.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 491 occupations Arizona reports figures for, this is number 310.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $49,060, tax leaves $40,776, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $40,330 in comparable terms. Here the average runs under the middle, at $48,200.
- Arizona's median for molders, shapers, and casters, except metal and plastic is $49,060, about 6.26% above the national figure and 11 of 48 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- In Arizona's occupational distribution, molders, shapers, and casters, except metal and plastic sits at 310 of 491 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- Because Arizona sits close to the national price level, the real-terms figure for molders, shapers, and casters, except metal and plastic — median $49,060 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $40,776 retained, $40,330 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $48,200 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
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Pay band: Molders, Shapers, and Casters, Except Metal and Plastic
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $40,040 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $49,060 |
| Top tenth earn over | $55,260 |
| This salary | $49,060 |
Positions between the published tenth, quarter, half, three-quarter and ninetieth points are estimated by straight line.
The same pay, somewhere else
The state median for this job
| Take-home in Arizona | $40,776 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $41,600 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,479 |
State income tax and state price levels only. No city income tax, and no housing market.
What you would need there
The state median for this job
| To match take-home only | $48,034 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,998 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 101 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $49,060 as a midpoint for Arizona, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $40,040 and the ninetieth is $55,260 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $40,776 take-home in Arizona comes from $49,060. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 310 of 491.
- One number stands for prices across all of Arizona, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $40,330, the adjusted value of that $49,060 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 310 of 491 in the state.
- The Arizona median of $49,060 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $40,040 to $55,260. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $40,776, from $49,060, assumes a single Arizona filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 310 of 491 locally, and the state ranks 11 of 48 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Arizona, so $40,330 — the adjusted value of that $49,060 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 310 of 491 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $40,040 and the top tenth $55,260, so most people doing this work in Arizona sit within a fairly tight band.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
A larger wage in a dearer place is not automatically more. Adjusted for local prices, this pay behaves like $40,330 of national purchasing power.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and Arizona adds its own income tax on top — which is why $40,776 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 48 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($40,040 to $55,260) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Arizona rather than a national figure.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
Arizona's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $40,330 in national-average terms. ⚠️ RPPs are an all-items index; housing parities vary far more widely than the headline figure.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $40,776 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Arizona income tax for a single filer with no adjustments. The state layer is levied in addition to the federal one; only its rate and base differ between states.
Why does this occupation lack published estimates in every state?
BLS suppresses estimates failing disclosure or reliability criteria. This occupation has published state-level estimates in 48 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.